Sometimes I just want a simple homemade oatmeal cookie.
No gourmet ingredients in it, please.
Just the old basic Schrafft's oatmeal cookie.
I turn to the recipe in Evans Jones' biography of James Beard,
my favorite chef of all time.
Jones says that "Cookies were more than the understandable sweet bites that bring passing comfort to most children--
they remained one of Jim's mild passions."
James Beard loved Schrafft's Oatmeal Cookies and so do I.
1. Cream 1/4 lb butter and 1 cup sugar together.
[or 3/4 cup white sugar and 1/4 cup brown sugar]
2. Add 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla and beat till light and fluffy.
3. Stir in 1 1/2 cup oats [old-fashioned, not quick cooking]
4. Mix and stir together 1 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder,
1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon,
1/2 teaspoon allspice.
5. Add the butter and sugar mixture and 1/4 cup milk to the flour mixture
and beat till well blended.
6. Stir in 1 cup raisins and 1 cup chopped walnuts.
7. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto greased baking sheet, 1 1/2 inch apart.
8. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 12 minutes.
Remove and cool on racks.
Other than Jim's own books about his life, Evan Jones'
Epicurean Delight, The Life and Times of James Beard,
is my next favorite book about this complex man who taught
so many people how to cook good food.
Including a simple homemade oatmeal cookie.
i might be remembering wrong but I think that was my grandmother's favorite oatmeal cookie recipe too.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if that is the famous shraftt's drugstore? if it is... that's even more wonderful history!
gosh. now I want a perfectly simple and simply perfect oatmeal cookie!
it's turning into a lovely weekend. this caps it for me! a post from across the way! XOXO♥
Yes, Tam, it is the famous Schrafft's of NYC and Boston. Some people say that the Boston Schrafft's oatmeal cookies were better than the NYC location.
DeleteI'm kind of obsessed with Schrafft's, did an earlier post on it with the Auden poem.
Thanks, sweet friend!
Well, hailing from Canada and residing in Crete, I have never heard of Schrafft's but these oatmeal cookies sound so scrumptious that crossing the pond just for a taste test at the Boston store might be necessary! I had the pleasure of visiting Boston when I was 21 years young - too bad I didn't know of the city's famious delicacies back then! Thanks for the recipe, Dewena. I will definitely bake them up in the fall, when Liberty returns, to enjoy them together, as she's the cookie connoisseur in this family.
ReplyDeleteSending sweetness your way,
Poppy♥
And hers will be much more beautiful than mine, Poppy. I've seen her creations!
ReplyDeleteSadly, there is no longer a Schrafft's. At least we have their cookie recipe. I must google and see what other Schrafft's recipes are out there!
Sending sweetness back to you, high up in the hills,
Dewena
My mother-in-law went to California for a cooking school class, 1 week, with James Beard, and Marion Cunningham. She was already a good cook before attending.
ReplyDeleteI judge my clients by their cookbooks. Went to an estate sale last weekend, oh my, the lady was our type of woman !!
Of course looking at one client's cook books got what I deserved, a sales book with various sexy things including Love Beads. Had to look that up ! Anyway. The lady said she did home parties. Realized they were sex products.
She sold well, her house full of nice things, and she was about to put in a pretty garden.
Garden & Be Well, XO T
That's funny, Tara! You never know, do you?
ReplyDeleteI hope you found something wonderful at the estate sale. So many are getting rid of their cookbooks but I still love to hold one in my hands.
I love that your mother-in-law got to spend a week with Beard and Cunningham. She's a fascinating woman too, from my memories of food articles decades ago.
Best to you and all the garden plans you're constantly noodling,
Dewena